Ontario Opening 20 New Long-Term Care Beds in Huntsville

Province Creating 30,000 More Beds Across Ontario Over the Next Decade

March 16, 2018

NEWS

Ontario is opening 20 new long-term care beds in Huntsville to help seniors access the care they need, closer to home.

These new beds are part of Ontario’s commitment to create5,000 long-term care beds over the next four years and more than 30,000 over the next decade. These new beds will be in addition to 76 existing beds at Fairvern Nursing Home that will be redeveloped, forming a new 96-bed home.

This investment is part of Aging with Confidence: Ontario’s Action Plan for Seniors, which has more than 20 new initiatives to help seniors access the supports they need. The plan includes 15 million more hours of nursing, personal support and therapeutic care for long-term care home residents, a free annual high-dose influenza vaccine for seniors, and a new one-stop website where seniors can find information about tax credits, drug coverage, powers of attorney, recreation programs and more.

Improving seniors’ access to the care they need is part of Ontario’s plan to create fairness and opportunity during this period of rapid economic change. The plan includes a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable child care, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25 through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation.

QUOTES

“Our government is committed to supporting Ontario residents who rely on long-term care homes for their ongoing health and personal care needs. By adding 20 new long-care beds to the redevelopment of Fairvern Nursing Home in Huntsville, we are helping more seniors access the care they need in their community, close to family and friends.”

- Dr. Helena Jaczek, Minster of Health and Long-Term Care

QUICK FACTS

In addition to creating 30,000 new long-term care beds, Ontario is supporting the redevelopment of 30,000 long-term care beds in 300 homes across the province by 2025, including eliminating all four-bed wards, under the Enhanced Long-Term Care Home Renewal Strategy.

The province has nearly doubled its annual funding for long-term care since 2003, from $2.1 billion to $4.14 billion.

In 2017-18, the province announced a $101 million investment over the next three years for Ontario’s dementia strategy, which includes expanding access to community programs, enhancing education, training and respite services for care partners, and expanding access to care coordination for patients.